Spirit Release: Helping Lost Souls Move into the Light

Review of a Spirit Release Forum conference

Spirit Release: Helping Lost Souls Move into the Light

A review by Fiona Bowie

On Saturday 22^nd June 2013 I attended a one-day conference in London organised by the Spirit Release Forum, www.spiritrelease.org. DVDs of the talks are available from the Spirit Release Forum website, but the following comments are taken from notes made at the time. Spirit release, a gentle version of what is usually termed exorcism, is likely to produce a quizzical smile or perhaps provoke anxiety, based on the world of film or television. There are those, however, who hold that many of the physical and psychological ills facing people are the result of spirit attachments and possession, which occur when the spirits of people who die fail to make a successful transition to the next stage of existence. This may be because they don’t realise that they are dead, or because they are confused and lost or afraid to move on to the realm of Light, as it is often called (or the higher astral planes in the language of Spiritualism or Theosophy). The spirit world and afterlife are part of the cultural framework of most peoples in the world. In a generally more narrowly materialist Western context it is less common to be among people for whom spirits are real, not metaphors or the product of an over-active imagination. 

The six speakers at the conference had complementary knowledge and interests, and a great deal of practical experience in healing people, places and spirits. The audience of around sixty were by and large also a pretty knowledgeable group that included a number of mediums, psychics, spiritual healers and people with experience of alternative healing. About two thirds of the audience were female, with ages ranging mainly from mid to late thirties to seventies plus. Some of those present were members of the Spirit Release Forum and I recognised others from events at the College of Psychic Studies and Scientific and Medical Network. One of the speakers, Dr Terence Palmer, was known to me from his contributions to the Afterlife Research Centre and ARC Forum (where he has posted videos of his own spirit release work). There was a sense that the speakers and audience were among friends, or at least the like-minded, and did not have to be defensive about their work. The day was ably chaired by founding member of the Spirit Release Forum, David Furlong. He has over forty years experience as a healer and spirit release therapist, and is author of the popular and influential book The Healer Within.

The day began with an acknowledgment of and invitation to the ancestors and other spirits present, along with the assembled participants.

1) Archibald Lawrie, ‘Best Practice and Successful Methodologies in Spirit Release’

Our first speaker was Archie Lawrie, a seasoned investigator of over 600 cases of parapsychological phenomena, hauntings and spirit healings, and author of the Psychic Investigators Handbook. He started with an intriguing list of statistics (which can be checked on the DVD, my notes should be regarded as approximate). In Archie’s experience 88% of reported psychic phenomena occur in a domestic setting, the commonest being the sense of someone’s presence. There does not appear to be any ethnic predisposition to psychic ability, but there is an indication that it might be inherited. People who phoned Archie saying that their house was haunted were correct an estimated 99% of the time, although poltergeists and apparitions only accounted for less than 1% each of psychic phenomena. While most people can sense the presence of spirits, only about 3% of the population can actually identify an individual spirit. However, when asked the sex of a ghost about 70% of Archie’s respondents could detect it correctly. In addition to male and female ghosts, Archie had come across human/animal mythical creatures such as half man, half goat or half man, half wolf. These could be real spiritual beings taking forms intended to frighten others (or perhaps thought forms?). Some 20% of spirits have forgotten their name. An often-used formula to help a spirit remember who they were in life is to ask them what someone (e.g. their mother) would call them, imagining a scenario that could jog their memory. When it comes to releasing earthbound spirits compassionate listening is enough to help around 30% to move on. The remainder need more help, although it is only around 3% of spirits who cause 99% of the problems to the living. They include rapists and sexual predators who often try to hide psychically from a medium or psychic who tries to contact them. Some spirits are afraid to move on, like a blacksmith who murdered his wife and daughter, who could create a barrier of smoke or steam. Other spirits, referred to as chokers, can frighten the living by putting a hand around their throat or by creating visible scratches. These individuals were often mentally ill when they died. Entities who had limited contact with human beings at the end of their lives might become ‘wild men’ after death and lose some of their humanity. Others might be battle-hardened, like the spirit of a Viking who possessed a girl for two years, or have become strongly attached to a building or place. The deceased relatives of those who have become stuck or earthbound can often assist in releasing spirits, acting as guides to help them find the Light.

     Archie Lawrie’s approach was pragmatic and sympathetic – a far cry from the ghostbuster TV image of haunted houses and disturbed spirits. Even those who might try to frighten the living or who did terrible things during their lives are (or were) ultimately ordinary people in need of help. The concern Archie demonstrated in his talk to help the dead as well as the living was a characteristic of all the speakers during this conference. His accounts were reminiscent of those described historically and contemporaneously by other spirit release practitioners, such as the Swedish American physician Carl Wickland in his book Thirty Years Among the Dead (1924).

2) Natalia O’Sullivan, ‘The Ancestral Continuum: How the Ancestors Affect Us’

Natalia O’Sullivan was introduced as both the author of two recent books, Soul Rescuers, and The Ancestral Continuum, and as a healer and spirit release practitioner. She started by describing her own mixed Hungarian/Spanish parentage and the ways in which ancestors can follow you, and their agendas move through the family tree. One person in a family can become the repository for family secrets and the collective energy of a family. There can be mental health problems running like a black river though a family. People often awaken to family trauma in their teens, and can become aware of an ‘oddness’ that does not seem personal. Natalia referred to some ‘earthbounds’ as ‘piggy-backers’ or ‘zombie dead’ who wander through the centuries and can be hard to find and ‘catch’. In some cases past family trauma can affect people. O’Sullivan referred to the case of Tania (discussed in The Ancestral Continuum pp.81-2) who suffered night paralysis and dreamt of fire. She would wake to see a dark shadow sitting beside her and couldn’t get back to sleep. O’Sullivan picked up on someone in the family who had died in a fire. Tania recalled that her grandfather had died in a gas explosion that had destroyed the family home. When the grandfather was acknowledged and given the chance to say what he needed to say he vanished and Tania’s sleep problems ceased.

As an adoptive mother I was interested to hear what Natalia O’Sullivan had to say about adoption (and children who had ‘passed through’ without being born). I can endorse from our own family experience what she said about the strength of connection with both birth and adoptive families. It is not a question of competition between them or one being more important than the other, but of acknowledging both, and valuing spiritual, emotional and genetic connections, which all go to make us who we are. O’Sullivan went on to talk about the different roles we take on in our families, such as rescuer or carrier of certain issues and patterns of behaviour. Her book gives examples of small rituals people can perform to become aware of ancestors, and to replace unhealthy with healthy connections. We all have ancestral guides or guardians, she told us, who are there at our birth and death, as well as other spiritual helpers, some known to us and some unknown (in our earth lives).

3) Terence Palmer, ‘The Science of Spirit Possession’

Our third speaker, Terry Palmer, was well known to me through the Afterlife Research Centre. Terry wrote a PhD on the pioneering Victorian scientist and researcher of consciousness, Frederic W.H. Myers. Palmer is a practising spirit release therapist as well as academic researcher. He gave us details of his own fascinating journey through very different careers before becoming interested in the fields of parapsychology and spirit possession. Like Myers and his Nineteenth Century colleagues in the Society for Psychical Research, Palmer is convinced that there are good scientific principles behind and explanations for parapsychological phenomena, which deserve continued serious research. We were given numerous examples of researchers and evidential data for a range of phenomena relating to OBEs and spirit possession, that are in the public domain but often ignored or dismissed. Links to many of these and a video of Terry’s talk can be found on his website: http://www.tjpalmer.org.

As is so often the case, it is the people you meet in the breaks who make such events such fun. I found myself sitting next Judy Hall, and two women artists at lunch. I had heard Judy speak at the College of Psychic Studies on the healing power of crystals, but how many people choose to spend their holidays in Egypt clearing earthbound spirits from the Aswan dam? The artists could be described as wounded healers, they had both suffered long term illnesses that had been healed through spirit release, and had gone on to train with Sue Allen as spirit release healers. They were currently involved in what they described as low-key spirit release work, such as space clearing for family and friends.

4) Dr Tom Zinser, ‘Spirit Attachment: The Soul Connection’

Tom Zinser is an American hypnotherapist and soul release therapist. In his presentation of clinical findings relating to earthbound spirits there was a good deal of overlap with Archibald Lawrie’s statistical experience with hauntings. Therapeutically Zinser’s work resembled that of Edith Fiore and William Baldwin, with his use of hypnosis to contact possessing or attached spirits (see Bowie on ‘Self, Personhood and Possession’ for a description of these writers and therapists). Zinser started off by claiming that people are composed of psychic and spiritual as well as emotional and physical components, and that focusing solely on the physical and emotional (conventional medicine and psychology) is not sufficient. We need to look at the whole person. He also asserted that (1) spirits are real and that (2) they can and do interface with humans. Interactions with spirits (who may include inter-dimensional beings as well as ‘dead’ humans – and presumably other types of entity as well) can be conscious or unconscious and can cause medical and psychological symptoms. Earth-bound souls have the same potential for higher-level spiritual work as other spirits, but have forgotten or never quite knew what they were supposed to do. Clinically, Zinser will ask whether a spirit is present and affecting a person, and if so what he can do to stop it. He works with a spirit guide, Gerald, (as most if not all spirit release practitioners do). Zinser communicates with these spirits via the hypnotised patient. The first task, having ascertained that a spirit is present and causing trouble for the client, is to engage it in conversation and disengage it from the client. The next step is to send the spirit to the Light. When a spirit is directed to the Light and leaves there is an immediate transformation in the client.

       Some 40-50% of the spirits Tom Zinser engages leave on their first encounter. The Divine Light, which is Love, resonates with their inner light and the spirit begins to remember his or her place in the world. Some don’t see the Light when they look around, and are directed to look inside to find their own light (which is part of the greater whole). There are spirits who are more difficult to shift. Some can’t find the light through fear, or perhaps they have been threatened by other spirits who try to persuade them that the Light will be harmful, or that they will suffer in some way. In these cases Tom will  call on a spirit guide or helper. These helping spirits will not act against someone’s free will – the earthbound soul must still give consent. They are shown a beam of loving light, deceased loved ones, an angel or perhaps a religious figure if that is what they expect to see and is most helpful to them. If that does not work the therapist will continue to engage with the spirit and try to awaken them to who they are. The therapist is a go-between but cannot force the spirit to leave, although may ask help of a higher-level figure if necessary. This works in approximately 70% of cases. The remaining 30% of spirits refuse to cooperate. The therapist needs to find out why the earthbound spirit continues to say ‘No!’ It might be fear of judgement and punishment, particularly if they have died with a belief in Hell. A higher-level spirit can try to communicate with them and persuade them that there is no judgment in the light, other than that which comes from greater self-knowledge.

If a spirit moves towards the Light and then stops it is usually because of a remembered trauma. They see the Light as a source of pain, whereas in reality the Light can reveal, but not cause pain. Some spirits are angry with God and blame God for what has happened to them, and react by rejecting the Light/God. Zinser will offer spirit contact with a loved one for souls who have become stuck, but will not promise to find any particular individual, as those who have already reincarnated may not be available. Others don’t realise that they have died and are still looking for a body. The anxiety of the patient or client can form a kind of energy body for the lost spirit. There are some spirits who are taken over by dark, deceptive and controlling souls who enslave them. They may enter into a contract with a dark soul to provide immortality, revenge and so on. The task of the therapist is to persuade the spirit that it can end this contract whenever it chooses, and help it to believe that he or she is and always has been a being of light.

Tom Zinser’s conclusion was that fear of death is a key factor in distorting people’s behaviour and in depriving them of a good death and transition to the Light. There is an urgent need for better education concerning death and the afterlife.

5) Sue Allen, ‘Heart Centred Spirit Release’

Our final speaker was spirit-release therapist Sue Allen, who has a successful private practice, and acts as a trainer as well as author and speaker. Her book Spirit Release: A Practical Handbook, was published in 2007. Again, using her clinical experience, Sue Allen stressed the gentle side of spirit release therapy. Quiet confidence, combined with training, spiritual preparation, the help and protection of spirit guides, enables Sue Allen to deal with even the darker forces, with none of the frightening melodrama of popular film, TV and literature. Treatment involves being calm, often silent. Allen works psychically rather than through hypnosis, and communicates with the spirits telepathically, with the help of her spirit guides. Earthbound spirits do not have to be traumatised in order to leave their host. When they do leave, clients often show remarkable improvements. Sue gave an example of one of her cases which involved an ‘ET’ who was gathering experience but also inadvertently affecting her male client. Having diagnosed the problem, Sue Allen quoted the law of non-interference. The entity still refused to leave, so she asked her spirit guide to call in the ‘Commander’. A space ship and other ET’s arrived (presumably only visible psychically, operating on a different vibrational/visible level). She asked them to take the possessing entity away with them, which they did. The client reported some bizarre experience of space-craft and aliens during the session. As the visitor was a living being and not ready to the Light, it was sent home using  telepathic heart communication.

The term ‘heart-centred’ was explained as a state of being fully in the present moment, which offers natural protection, and enables one to vibrate at a higher level than most earthbound spirits. (This sounded very reminiscent of John Hagelin’s scientific explanation of matter composed of different vibrations and the way in which meditation affects our natural harmonic frequencies). The heart-centre needs to be open to the client rather than projecting what the therapist expects. Allen also claimed that this was not a matter of belief, but of knowing. Her own experience was such that she did not need proof that the phenomena described are real. Sue Allen stuck me as very down-to-earth, unlikely to be susceptible to flights of fancy, however bizarre such stories may sound outside occasions such as this conference. Allen also articulated an idea found frequently in the writings of Robert Monroe and Bruce Moen (from The Monroe Institute, looking at out of body experiences), that spirits can be held by their belief systems. If they have committed suicide, for instance, and believe that they will go to Hell, they may find themselves in a kind of limbo. Her task is to diagnose their problem. Someone who does not believe in life after death may attach him or herself to a surviving spouse or child, or become trapped in a place as their belief that death is the end is stronger than their current experience of still being conscious. Treatment involves acceptance and compassion. The spirit needs to be assured that they will go to a place of love, not of fear.

       Another example Sue Allen gave of a non-human attachment was of a girl who had an elemental (nature spirit) on her back. Here the treatment involved persuading the spirit to return to nature, rather than to the Light. In cases of house clearance, i.e. removing attached spirits or energies from a building, it might be necessary to recreate the house in the Light (there are many channelled accounts of the deceased mentally recreating their earth environments, or improved versions of them, in the astral planes). Sue stressed that she will not negotiate with spirits. She needs to stay in control of the process. Her role is to explain, educate and facilitate, and to try to resolve situations, with help from more evolved spirits. The aim is to release the attached spirits to a place from which they can’t return, not simply to expel them from a client. Finding the right place for each one is a task for spirit guides, not the therapist.

       Dark force entities (DFE’s) can be sent consciously or unconsciously as a form of psychic attack (cf. anthropologist Paul Stoller’s account of a psychic attack originating in Niger, West Africa, which followed him to the USA, in his book In Sorcery’s Shadow). DFE’s may have been human but have lost their humanity as a result of trauma, anger, and other strong uncontrolled emotions. They need to be taken back to a time when they were human. Allen gave the example of a grandfather who had suffered at the hands of a very cruel grandson, and had been so angry that when he died he gradually descended into becoming a DFE. He had to be reminded of his humanity to enable healing to take place.

It is easy, at least from where I sat in the audience, to imagine that each therapist will find what they and their clients expect to find, whether it is possessing spirits, ancestors or aliens. It was therefore something of a relief when Sue Allen ended with the example of a client who was not possessed. A mother had brought her fifteen-year-old son, a very damaged child, to therapy, convinced that he was a victim of spirit possession. Allen did not find any evidence of spirit attachment, and concluded that he was a very angry young man who had projected his anger outwards. He needed conventional therapy rather than spirit release. She ended by stressing the importance of not colluding with clients’ stories, but of being heart-centred so as to get to the truth of a situation.

I was not able to stay for the general discussion at the end, but enjoyed an unusual and thought-provoking day.

Additional Links

See also the Spirit Release Foundation: http://www.spiritrelease.com, which has a good selection of articles on spirit release, and my article on Self, Personhood and Possession.